Breckenridge's Olling wins 4th straight individual state cross country title

By the Midland Daily News

Published
9:00 pm EDT, Saturday, November 2, 2013

BROOKLYN — Breckenridge senior Kirsten Olling became just the seventh girls’ cross country runner in state history to win four individual state titles, according to Huskies’ coach Royce Humm, with Saturday’s performance at the Division 4 finals at Michigan International Speedway.

Olling’s time of 17:44.9 for the 5K is a new Lower Peninsula Division 4 finals record, and she also set the LP Division 4 mark for largest margin of victory with a 57.8-second cushion over the runner-up.

“Not many people have done it, and that classifies you as being one of the best, which is what I wanted,” said Olling of winning four state titles. “I get a sense of pride and accomplishment from that.

“It hits you all at once with it being your senior year and your last race, and you want to make the most of it and leave with no regrets,” she added. “There was a lot more pressure, because there are people who’ve won three and then lost, but that wasn’t going to happen to me.”

A training regimen that has seen Olling run at least a mile for 1,400 straight days shows just how dedicated she is to her craft.

“To me, running is like brushing your teeth. I couldn’t imagine not running,” she said. “This program at Breckenridge is going to last a long time due to all the hard work that we’ve put into growing it.”

Olling had a goal of running her first mile in 5:30 on Saturday, and she met her goal of maintaining that pace through the race’s completion.

“I’m better at holding a pace than trying to change it,” she said.

Olling will continue running collegiately, as Michigan State, Arizona State and Notre Dame are among the schools she’s considering.

Humm was just as relieved as Olling to see her handle the pressure.

“(Winning four state titles) was a goal of hers that first came into light when she won a state title as a freshman,” said Humm. “After winning one last year, it became an obvious goal of hers to win four state titles and be a major part of history in Michigan cross country. She’s been a great leader in the program ... one who leads by example.”

The Breckenridge girls had their best state finals finish in school history with a second-place score of 136. Beal City scored a 120 to win the team state championship.

Dominique Adams (20:22.6) was 19th for the Huskies, while Rachel Reiber (20:39.1) was 23rd, Lindsay Hoard (20:43.3) was 26th and Ayanna Williams (21:34.8) was 67th.

“The three senior girls that ran for us today have been chasing a (team) state title since they came into the program,” said Humm of Olling, Adams and Hoard. “It didn’t quite come to fruition, but it was still a great way to cap off their senior years.”

The Breckenridge boys had individual state qualifiers in Austin Brittain (17:32.6) and Jake Partee (18:30.6), who finished 39th and 107th, respectively, in Division 4.